Out of Sight and In Danger
by maximumtwilight04
Summary: After Max. Rated T for language etc. To those who first read this: I apologize for the years that have gone by and I have not updated. I was EXTREMELY busy and to be honest I forgot about this...BUT i plan to continue my story if you are still interested. With that said I need to know if anyone is interested, so please contact me somehow, someway so I know to put time back in this.
1. Don't Be Surprised

**Hi! :)**** This is my first story so please give me constructive criticism which means a lot of reviews! Enjoy!**

**

* * *

****MAX'S POV**

It's been a few weeks since our last encounter with Mr. Chu and, delighted to say, Brigid. Speaking somewhere along the lines of that, me and fang are in a good position right now, we haven't argued or anything... I think he's starting to understand that he can't win. HA. I and the flock are with Mom and Ella on another little vacation that was surrounded by a forest, just for now. We were outside having a wonderful campfire... The voice keeps talking the usual, "_you're not done yet Maximum."_ Blah blah blah. I'm starting to get the headaches again, but they're not as painful as usual. No one, not even Fang, realized that I started having them again. I'm sure you can guess why I didn't tell anybody.

"Max... MAX!" angel yelled, pulling me back from my own little world.

"Yeah uh sorry Angel what did u want?" I was really hoping that Angel wasn't in my mind in that second because then I would have some explaining to do… Mostly to Fang.

"What are we going to do next?" Thank goodness she didn't know. But previously talking amongst each other, the flock was now silent waiting for an answer. Too bad I didn't have one. One that was legit at least.

"Uh, nothing special, the voice hasn't said anything so I think it's ok to stay here for a day or two." The flock seemed pleased enough with my answer so they started talking again, except for _him_. You know who_ him_ is right? Yep, it's Fang! Wow you're good. He was staring at me, probably wondering what I was really thinking, which I'm not going to tell him because he'll start worrying too much and I don't need that. I sighed and then stood up "I'm going to go for a spin…alone." Fang had starting to get up too and I didn't want to listen to any of his questions.

It felt so good to be flying. I'd been flying for about 20 minutes when I started to realize that I had drifted from the flock. I turned to go back to them, and I was right over the lake which was maybe 100 ft away from them, when I had suddenly felt excruciating, agonizing pain in my right side. And I thought nothing else could go wrong, but nooo, I always had to be proven wrong. I had one of those brain-splattering headaches- but it was different than the recent one I've had; more painful, go figure. But just as it came it stopped. I could feel myself falling but I couldn't stop myself. I was at least 200 feet above the water and I was falling fast, the last thing I thought was 'this is really going to hurt' before I felt the ice cold water and immediately blacked out.

**FANG'S POV**

_RECAP:_ (Max's POV) I sighed and then stood up "I'm going to go for a spin…alone." Fang had starting to get up too and I didn't want to listen to any of his questions.

*************************************************************************************

'_Fine. But I'll find out later.'_ I thought to myself. Max's been a little edgy for the last few days but she won't tell me why and I had let it go then, but I'm going to find out tonight. I decided to think about something else for now and listened in on Iggy's and Gasman's conversation on the next bomb they were doing. After listening to them for forever I got bored and wondered how much time had passed since Max left. I opened my mouth to ask, "What-."

"Around 20 minutes Fang." Angel had said. '_Uh thanks Angel.' _I thought. _'No problem Fang.'_ Angel thought with a big smile on her face. I then noticed Angel's face turn from happy, to startled, to confused, to determination, and finally to utter horror.

"What's wrong Angel?" Everyone turned to look at her. Her eyes got really big and she turned her head to where Max was.

All of a sudden we all heard a gun being fired and Angel screamed at the top of her lungs, "MAX!!" everyone turned to where Max was (Iggy faced in the right direction) and she was falling, fast!

I was so stunned by what happened that I couldn't get myself to run after Max for a moment, but I then regained enough composure to get up and run to the lake as fast as I could (I was still a little shocked so I didn't think to use my wings until I came to the lake.). By the time I reached the lake, Max hit the water. I didn't think I just dove in and when I did, I almost regretted it and jumped out- the water was freezing! But I didn't turn back and I just remember that I have gills. I hope I'm not turning into a fish or something. Ew.

Damn! It's hard to see anything in this water. I kept swimming and I faintly realized that I had been underwater for a long time and I should've seen Max by now. Minutes passed and you could say that I was beyond frightened at this point. Then I saw something- some off white in the shape of a…WING! Finally I found Max. I jumped for joy- if you can jump for joy underwater. I swam to her as fast as I could and when I reached her, there was blood in the water all around her. I picked her up and zoomed upwards hoping I wasn't too late. As soon as we hit the surface I pushed up with my wings floating in the air and then Max and I were being lifted by Gazzy, Iggy, and Nudge. Angel was on shore with a very frightening look on her face. After we landed Dr. M and Ella approached us, along with the medical kit. Dr. M checked for Max's pulse, "It's faint but it's there." She abruptly turned around and gave me a hug and said "thank you so much Fang."

To my surprise I hugged her back. "You're welcome." I let go first and then after a moment she did.

"We need to get her over to the house so I can work on her properly." I nodded and then picked Max up went to the cabin. When we got there I immediately set her down on the wide and flat couch and let Dr. M work. She didn't ask us to leave the room. Smart woman.

I leave out the gruesome details but Ms. Martinez finally got the bullet out. Unfortunately, we found out that Max broke her back, but she'll recover in time. I never left her side, or rather, never wanted to- but since Max was out, I was next in command and I couldn't put everything on Iggy to stay with Max. It's been 3 days and she's still unconscious, fact is though, we're not expecting her to wake up after her injuries for at least another 2 days. I was glad when proven wrong.

**MAX'S POV**

_Why am I sleeping? What happened?_

_**You need to wake up Max. Max you need to wake up, you need to finish the mission.**_ Oh hello Voice maybe you can give me some answers as to why I am here.

_**You were injured Max, wake up and the flock can fill you in. Wake up Max. Now.**_

I could feel myself rising to the surface when I felt pain in my right side. I think I winced and I tried to go back to where I didn't feel any pain, but someone was calling me, someone familiar. Was it Fang? I then realized I wanted to come to the surface that I wanted to see his face. So I forced my eyes open. "Fang? What's wrong? What happened?" I said weakly. Wow I didn't even know that word was in my vocabulary, concerning myself that is.

"Max! Thank God you're awake." Fang said as he smiled-one of his adorable rare smile. Wow, what luck I have to wake up seeing him smile.

"Yeah. Where's everybody else." As soon as I said that, everyone started rushing in the room and I became bombarded with questions like: "Are you ok?", "How much pain are you in right now?", "You weren't dreaming of anything nasty were you?".. Now that had to be Iggy. I looked up at Iggy, "no you sexist pig." He smiled which made me smile.

I tried to stand up and I was actually surprised that Fang and Mom let me. Oh my back hurt so badly, but it was tolerable- I guess my back healed pretty fast since my fall. Gosh, that hurt. But as soon as I wobbled and almost fell over, Fang wrapped his arm around me and made me sit down. "You need to rest. Don't overdo it." I was in a lot of pain but I wasn't about to show it to anybody.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I lied. That caused someone to yell at me, but it wasn't who I expected it to be. It was Angel.

"You're fine? You're fine!?! Max you fell out of the sky, over 200 feet in the air and fell in the lake and broke your back. Not to mention you got shot on your right side! It's luck that you didn't even injure your wings. I just read your mind and I can tell you're in a lot of pain so don't even bother lying to us because it won't do any good." I was shocked- she called me out! I couldn't even say anything back to her. She pretty much hit everything except for that brain-splattering headache. She doesn't even know that I've been having them for days now.

All of a sudden her eyes got big and then she narrowed her eyes and she stared at me, angrily. At first I was wondering why and then it became obvious and I felt stupid for not thinking that she was reading my mind right this second. Crap. I was half-expecting her to yell at me, to scold me, but she's Angel and I'm me, I won't take crap from her. She surprised me though. Instead of shouted, she spoke very quietly, "Max why didn't you tell us you've been having those headaches again. Why would you hide something like that from us?" The way she said it made me feel extremely guilty, like I didn't trust them to tell them.

"Max?" This time it was Fang while everybody just stared blankly at me. "Is that true? Have you been having headaches and not telling us?" I looked over at Fang, and while everyone probably thought he was emotionless and calm, I could see hurt and sadness in his eyes. He felt hurt and probably betrayed and I caused it.

I stuttered, "I-I didn't want anybody to be worried about me." I didn't- I was leader and it was my duty to be worried about them, not the other way around. After that there was a moment of silence until Angel broke it up.

"That goes both ways Max. You worry over us because you're the leader and you feel you have to. But because you're leader you get all the stress that we don't and because we love you that entitles us to be worried about you. Don't you get it?" I just stared at Angel, blankly, unable to comprehend anything at the moment. All of a sudden my vision blurred and guess what: I had another brain attack.

**

* * *

**

So what do you think? Reviews!! I need tips and ideas for more chapters.


	2. Broken Record

**Alright, so I decided to skip the whole brain attack experience thinking it would be unnecessary and just let the story continue. So basically, brain attack is over, Max is fine now, she didn't get any pictures or information during it, just like the previously recent brain attacks. Now on to CHAPTER 2:)**

* * *

**MAX'S POV**

It's been a 2 days since the whole brain attack. Everybody is still a little upset with me for not telling them about the other ones, including Fang, actually, especially Fang. Whenever I try to start up a conversation, he either ignores me or gives me a short answer and then leaves and frankly I'm getting tired of it. Angel won't let me out of her sight now like she's the one in charge, and every time I tell her to go away or something along those lines she just shrugs and keeps watching me. The only people whom I can have a full conversation with are Nudge and Gazzy, and sometimes Total (depending on his mood).

"Max it's been two days and you said we were supposed to be leaving by now. So are we leaving or staying a little bit longer because I like it here and I don't want to leave? And everybody is still mad at you, whom I think they should forgive you already, I mean you apologized a lot and you never apologize. Are you losing you edge?" _Since when did Nudge know anything about 'edges' and maybe I was losing it? I apologized 5 times and that was a record by like 5._

"Uh I don't know Nudge- to the losing my edge part, but we do need to leave soon and find out who shot me because they just become on my TOP 5 ENEMY'S LIST." Don't ask. I looked away for a moment and saw Fang walk by- we really needed to talk. "Uh I'll be right back Nudge, just got to take care of something." I left before I heard her answer and walk right into Fang. "Fang can we go and talk?" Fang just stared at me, meaning for me to continue, "Alone?" he just stared at me for a little bit longer before saying...

"Fine." He walked to the back room and after I entered, he closed the door.

"Fang, why are you still mad at me? It's a thing in the past and I said I was sorry. Can't we just kiss and make-up, no pun-intended?" He just stared at me emotionless and after a few minutes of silence I gave up and sighed. I went to the door to leave but he stood in front of it. That made me mad, "look, if you're not going to forgive me or at least talk to me after I apologized five times- which you know I don't do- you have no right getting in my way. Now move so I can go somewhere peaceful." Jeez! What does a girl got to do around here to be forgiven? I just stared at him coldly and he did something unexpected. He leaned down and kissed me.

* * *

**Sorry I know it's short but I thought it would be ok to end here for Chapter 2. Reviews!! **


	3. Forgiven

**I know Chapter 2 was short and this will be too, but I need to get the whole flock to forgive Max and then we can move on. It's still in Max's POV.**

_RECAP:__ I just stared at him coldly and he did something unexpected. He leaned down and kissed me._

**And here's Chapter 3.**

* * *

I was so stunned that I didn't kiss him back. When he realized this he pulled back and smiled. _What the heck?_ "What the heck? I thought I wasn't forgiven." Ok I'm officially confused, first it seems like he's never going to forgive me and then all of a sudden he kisses me. Hmmm, maybe I should make him angry more often.

"Max, I do forgive you, I just wish that you trusted me enough to tell me, that's all. Besides you said to kiss and make-up." His smile got bigger. _Yeah, I remember saying that, but I also said no pun-intended too. But this works just fine._

I sighed. "Fang it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I didn't want you to worry. If it makes you feel better, they didn't hurt that much- well except the night I got shot and than two days ago." I stopped, wondering why the other ones didn't hurt that much.

"Oh yeah, Max, that makes me feel so much better." Great, _now is the perfect time to be sarcastic Fang._

"Ok," I said, thinking of something that would make him feel better, "I will never, ever keep anything like this a secret from you and the flock." He just smiled and that means he approves. Good. "Ok now I have to make sure the rest of the flock forgives me." I left the room with Fang right behind me and went straight to Angel. "Angel, I-"

"It's ok Max, you're forgiven." Wow that was quick and then I realized that she probably listened to me and Fang. I wasn't sure whether to be happy, though, that she forgave me so quickly or mad that she was listening in on my conversation with Fang. She seemed happy so I just decided to let it go. I just nodded to her and then went to find Iggy, my mom and Ella, while Fang stayed with Angel to talk about whatever it was that they wanted to talk about.

I found the remainder of people all together. Good, I wouldn't have to repeat myself. "Uh guys I know that I should have told you and that you're probably still angry but-"

"It's ok Max," said Ella. "We know you won't do it again." _Was everybody listening to our conversation?_ "And we realized that we shouldn't stay mad at you. Plus, Iggy just doesn't want to get his butt kicked." Ella and mom started laughing while Iggy just blushed.

"Sweet, now that I've been forgiven by everybody, we need to have a meeting. Stay here I'll go and get everybody." After gathering everybody we all decided to leave and find out who our new enemy was. I sighed, "No more vacation time. It's time for business."

* * *

**Ok chapter 3 is over so now we can move on. Reviews please!**


	4. Other Purposes 1

**Hi there! SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, I had a writer's block!! I had no idea about what to write next- so I'm just going to wing it. Well the flock has forgiven Max so they're off to see who shot her. Remember this is my first story so I would appreciate constructive criticism. Oh and if you had not noticed Total and Akila are not with the flock when they left- let's just say that the whole time they're on a pre-wedding-pre-honeymoon kind of thing, if that's even possible. They decided to stay in Hawaii with the flock's new scientist friends, much to Angel's dismay. To be honest I'm not entirely sure where this story is going yet so I guess this chapter will probably be confusing or whatever, but I need to get it out so I can do other things (when I come up with them haha). Well anyways, here's Chapter 4 :)

* * *

**

Me and the flock where finally out and about and I am happy to say that my gunshot wound had finally healed so I was good to go- you now like those old Taco Bell commercials. I loved those. We were flying for about thirty minutes when Nudge's stomach started growling. Oh great.

"Max, I know I just ate but I'm hungry." No surprise there.

"Uh Nudge we just started flying, do you think you can hold on for another half hour?"

"Yeah ok, I think I can." I turned to smile at Nudge- mainly for not giving me a headache about it- she smiled back. After about 5 minutes of silent flight, I got this weird feeling inside my stomach but it went away almost immediately. I shrugged it off as hunger or something. A few minutes after that I suddenly felt lethargic and tried to fight it- I mean I really wouldn't want to fall asleep several hundred feet from the ground. I don't know about you, but that's not how I roll. I thought I was holding my own when my left wing stopped working. Crap.

I panicked, "Fang!" I was tilting on my left side and I was flapping as hard as I could with my right wing, but that wasn't cutting it so I began to fall fast. I noticed Fang coming for me but before he even caught me I blacked out.

"Max...Max are you ok? Max!" That was so loud that I had no choice but to force my eyes open. The entire flock was hovering over me, Fang and Angel being the closest to me. I noticed we were surrounded by trees- which we could easily escape if we needed to when Angel spoke, "Max how are you feeling?"

_Hmmm let me think about that…my head aches, my stomach feels weird again, and my wings are sore. "_I'm o-" I stopped myself. I promised the flock I wasn't going to lie- but wait that was for headaches. Hmmm better not anyways, Angel would rat me out in a heartbeat, "feeling a little bit sore and here and there but I'll manage." I sat up and stared at everyone and they stared back, probably wondering if I was telling the truth. Jeez no trust around here. I sighed, "I promise it's nothing to worry about." Angel looked at me for a second then nodded. After that little moment I turned to the rest of the flock, "it's getting late; we should make up camp here." They all agreed and after Nudge complained about being hungry again, I sent her and Iggy to go find some food. We were in California right now, not in the desert, so there should be plenty of places to find food at.

I was setting up my own sleeping area when Fang came over. "Uh Fang I'll take first watch…if you don't mind." Whoa! Did I just ask for permission? What is wrong with me? Regardless, Fang just shrugged, meaning '_ok whatever'_. He opened his mouth to say something, closed it, opened it again, and then closed it. I rolled my eyes, "just spit it out Fang."

He just looked at me for a moment- he's been doing that a lot lately- and then said, "Are you ok Max? And I mean the truth?" It was my turn to just stare at him. I didn't really have an answer to that question and it would have been really nice if I did. I didn't know what to say so I just told the truth. It made me feel like sighing.

"I honestly don't know Fang, I mean ever since getting shot, I feel all weird sometimes and it's making me worried as if the purpose of the bullet wasn't to hurt or kill me, but it was to put something inside of me." Until just this moment I hadn't really thought of it that way, but now that I did, it really made me worried. I then noticed that Fang's face went pale, very pale, and his eyes were huge. It was probably a mistake to say all of that but it was too late now. "Fang I'm not saying that's what's happening to me, just that it's a possibility-" I paused wondering how to say this next part, "well, we will find out soon enough, won't we." I sighed not happy with just simply finding out if something is wrong. What if I became dangerous towards the flock- I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I tried to attack one of them? But what else was there to do at this point? I rolled my eyes knowing the answer to that question: nothing, absolutely nothing.

* * *

**What do you think so far? good, bad, ok, needs improvement? just want some reviews and suggestion:)**


	5. Thinking Outside the Box

**Okay, you know how in chapter 3, Fang and Angel start talking after Max leaves to find Ella, Iggy, and her mom, well this chapter is in Fang's POV and it's his and Angel's conversation. And in chapter 4, when Max tells Fang about the gunshot and its purposes and stuff and his face turns pale-you'll find out his thoughts about that. (That part will be short). Sorry I know it may seem out of order; I'll work on that later. This is not chapter 5!**

**Oh and I forgot about the wonderful disclaimer thingy…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride and the Flock, etc. But I do own a xenon:), that's a cell phone for those of you that don't know haha.

* * *

**

Fang's POV

I was going to follow Max to find Iggy and Ella when Angel gave me this weird look. '_We need to talk about Max.'_ I just stared at her, waiting for her to continue. _'Alone. I don't want to have to communicate through minds if I don't have to. So come on.'_ She's just like Max, I thought. _'Thank you.'_ Ok that's kinda annoying. She led me back into the hallway.

"What is it Angel?"

"I think we need to keep a close eye on Max and her actions." Well that was a no-brainer. "I mean about when she got shot. I heard someone's thoughts before they pulled the trigger." Well this got my full attention, "they were saying that they got her locked and they were going to fire, but at first I didn't understand what this meant, so I concentrated harder to what the shooter was talking about- to whom he was talking to. I realized the second that the shooter pulled the trigger, that it was going after Max but I couldn't do anything but panic and scream at the top of my lungs. While you were getting Max from the lake I probed the area for the shooter but found no trace of him- I think it was a he, judging from the way it thinks. I lost his trace but right before he pulled the trigger I felt a sense of anticipation coming from him- and not the kind of him actually hitting her, but something deeper than that."

By the time Angel finished I was speechless, and she did it all under a minute- nowhere near Nudge's record, but pretty darn close. "Ok Angel, I see what you're saying and I'll keep an eye on her…uh thanks."

She just smiled and walked out of the hallway. _'We all love her Fang. Not like you do but we want her to be safe.'_ I smiled at that and started to walk out of the hallway when Max showed up and asked the remainder of us (excluding Iggy, Ella, and Mom) to go in the living room.

In the end, we all decided to leave so we don't put Max's mom and Ella in danger, and to find out who shot Max in the first place. As Max said it,_ "No more vacation time. It's time for business"._ Not that it was much of a vacation anyways._  
_

_************************************************************************************* _

After Max sent Iggy and Nudge off to get food, she started to set up a sleeping area and I noticed her face was more pale than usual. It felt like something was going on with Max and I was being left out- I didn't like that feeling. I decided to confront Max when she said, "Uh Fang I'll take first watch…if you don't mind." Did she just ask me for permission? That slightly startled me but I shrugged, trying to stay nonchalant and just approve anyway. I opened my mouth to speak several times but nothing came out. I mean I wasn't sure how to ask her- I don't want her to flip out on me if I say it the wrong way. She rolled her eyes at me, "just spit it out Fang." I just stared at her for a moment- I realized that I do that a lot lately. _Ok_, I thought, _here goes._

"Are you ok Max? And I mean the truth?" She just stared at me and I could see the bags under her eyes like she never got any rest- maybe I shouldn't let her take watch first, or at all. Then she spoke.

"I honestly don't know Fang, I mean ever since getting shot, I feel all weird sometimes and it's making me worried as if the purpose of the bullet wasn't to hurt or kill me, but it was to put something inside of me." I wasn't prepared for that. I could feel color drain from my face and my eyes got big. She's been thinking the same thing as Angel and me. I was shocked and Max could see that, "Fang I'm not saying that's what's happening to me, just that it's a possibility-" she paused not sure what to say next, "Well, we will find out soon enough, won't we." What else was there to do? We're not going to abandon her no matter what, so I guess we will have to wait and see.

* * *

**OK, i thought it would be nice for you guys to know what Fang was thinking at those times and now you know. Reviews please!**


	6. Why me?

**Hi what do you think so far? This chapter will be in Max's POV but mostly Fang's POV- you'll see why. I will try and make this a long chapter for you guys.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Maximum Ride books, JP does. What I do own is a sock.**

**And here's Chapter 5 :)

* * *

**

**Max's POV**

"Alright guys let's pack up." Yesterday night was wonderfully uneventful- no danger what-so-ever… well only Gasman but he couldn't help that his digestive system went A-Wall on us yesterday. Darn burritos! How'd he get those anyways?! Well anyways we're on our way out heading to…? Oh goodness, I'm so stupid! We've been flying around and I didn't even know where we were going. _Great, just great Max! Nice going!_

"What's great, Max?" I didn't even notice Angel right beside me.

"Uh nothing never mind I-" I didn't know what else to say, but thankfully I was rudely interrupted. _**Max you need to go north, to California. To the school.**_ Yay! The voice was here. (Sarcasm, complete sarcasm people!)_ Are you crazy!?! There is no way were going back to the school.__** Max it's so you can get the answers you need. Of who shot you and why they did.**__ I don't care! No going to the school, end of discussion! __**But Max…**__ Shush. There is no way I'm going to tell the flock that we're going back to the School._ I could have sworn I heard a sigh when I was being called back to reality.

"Max…Max, are we really going back to the school?" _Damn it! She picked the perfect time to peek in my head._ By this time everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared at me. Gazzy, Nudge, and Angel looked kinda scared- I don't blame them either. Fang and Iggy just looked blank, not saying anything until I confirmed whether we were going or not. I hated my job sometimes.

"Uh well that's what the voice told me. It said I would find our answers there about who shot me and why they did. You all know I don't want to go, but I need to find answers about the shooter and who he works for. You guys are more than welcome to stay here though and I'll go check it out myself." Boy did that sentence earn me a death glare from Fang.

"Max you're not going to the School alone. It's all of us, or we find another way to get information. It's as simple as that." Everyone pretty much agreed with him and I could see there was no point in arguing. I sighed.

"Ok, fine, be ready to go in five minutes. We're going to the School."

* * *

"Max I'm hungry." We've been flying for an hour now and I was already surprised Nudge didn't say she was hungry about an hour ago.

"Alright guys let's find us a place to eat." Cheers all around. _Wow I didn't realize I was starving these kids._

_You're doing a great job Max, don't doubt yourself._

_Thanks sweetie, oh and Angel?_

_Yeah Max? _

_Get out of my head. Thanks._ I felt her presence leave so I knew I had my thoughts to myself, for now. We kept flying for about 5 minutes until we found a McDonalds. We ordered all our food to go, ate it in 3 minutes flat, then we were on our way again.

* * *

It's been about another hour- we still had two hours since we were coming from Wyoming. People say it's a dull place for a vacation, but I disagree, I got the scar to prove it.

I suddenly felt very strange, like energy is being drained out of me every time I flap my wings. I tried to push through it but I was straining to move my wings now. I was so lost in concentration I didn't realize Fang flew right beside me, "Max are you ok? You don't look so good." I could hear the concern in his voice. Did I really look that bad right now?

"I'm fine Fang, just- ahhh!" in mid-sentence I felt a tear of skin on my right side, right where I got shot. Damn it! My wound was reopening! But how, it was more than 95% healed already? I didn't have any problems up till now.

"Max you're bleeding!" Now my WHITE SHIRT was covered in my own blood! That's fantastic! I clutched my right side- so much blood was coming out of this little hole. Fang facial expression was tight, but his eyes showed so much fear for me. In one moment I was looking into Fang's eyes, and in the next I saw the ground rushing up toward me, again, except there was to lake to catch my fall. "MAX!" It took all my strength to look up and see the entire flock racing toward me, with Fang in the front. The last I thought before I was plunged into darkness was, _Why me?

* * *

_

**Fang's POV  
**

We've been flying for some time now since McDonalds and I noticed Max looked really pale in the face again. She also had a look of intense concentration. I looked over to Angel who was studying Max but then turned to me and she looked worried- this could not be good. I flew over to Max and after 20 seconds of silence she still didn't even notice me there. Now I was worried, "Max are you ok?" She practically jumped when I said her name, "You don't look so good." She just stared at me for a moment then said,

"I'm fine Fang, just- ahhh!" during mid-sentence I heard something tear and it took me a moment to realize that it came from Max. I looked over her body and spotted a big red spot on her right side where she got shot. Her wound reopened?! The spot then got bigger and bigger- so much blood was gushing out. I panicked, "Max you're bleeding!" from the corner of my eye, I saw the flock look straight at us and Angel gasped. Max suddenly looked me right in the eyes and I made the mistake of blinking. When I opened my eyes a fraction of a second later Max was no longer in my sight of vision. I looked down and noticed her falling fast, again, and there was no lake to catch her. If Max hit that ground, she was going to most likely die. I flew down to Max as fast as I could and I could tell the rest of the flock was right behind me. Max made no movement as she was falling and I feared the worst. "MAX!" I yelled as loud as I could and thank goodness, she looked straight up at us, but then she went unconscious and hit the ground. Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, and Iggy all caught up with me and I could see the shock on all their faces, as well as feel it on mine. We were all to stun to talk, to yell and when we reached the ground, we started running immediately towards Max. When we reached her, we all gasped. Her legs and arms were all bent at an odd angle and there was blood everywhere. Iggy immediately bent down to reach for Max's neck. I have no idea how he found it so quickly, but when he did, he checked for a pulse and we all sucked in our breaths.

After a moment or two, Iggy stood up, "she has a pulse, but it's weak. Man she's strong. With a fall like that, I doubt any of us would have made it at all." We all let out the breath that we were holding. "She needs to go to a hospital." And we all sucked our breaths back. We hated going to hospitals, but it's definitely what Max needs. I kneeled down to her and picked up her head and upper back, making sure I was careful. Everyone came over and picked up max as gently as possible. It took us 45 minutes to find a hospital- which I'm sure you have an idea of how hard it was to carry Max for that long. When we reached the hospital, the nurses where all shocked of what they saw and surprisingly they didn't ask questions except for her name. They just brought a stretcher over and put her on it and practically ran to an open room. After a moment we all realized that we were in the middle of a waiting area with lots of people staring at us because of all the blood on us [our wings were safely tucked in]. We decided to sit down and wait for the doctors to come to us.

* * *

It's been 3 hours and we were still waiting for someone to come out. Nudge was on full blast and it was bugging the heck out of everybody.

"Nudge, shut up!" thankfully, Iggy had the courage to tell her that we didn't want to listen. I mean I know it's hard for her but she's making it harder for everyone else. I was happy she stopped but instantly felt guilty- she was on the verge of tears. I couldn't stand to see the rest of the Flock cry. Max crying alone is too much- I always lose my composure.

"Nudge don't cry; I know it's upsetting about waiting for Max, but it'll be ok. You don't have to shut up, but please don't talk so much for our sakes." Nudge wiped her eyes and nodded. Iggy looked in Nudge's direction and apologized. _Wow, that was easier than I thought._ Even so, I still feel bad for Max, having to take care of us all the time. Mom/girlfriend; weird but used to it, kinda, the girlfriend part is still new. Ah Max I hope your ok.

Just as if God himself was answering my thoughts, doctors came out of Max's room and walked to us. I stood up immediately and did not like the look on their faces. They looked worn out and concerned. The one in the middle spoke first. "My name is Dr. Bart and this is Dr. Magnum to my left and Dr. Heist to my right. Uh about your friend Max, all her broken bones are healing, but the hole in her side isn't. I'm guessing it's a bullet wound." I nodded my head to him. He looked around for a second to see if anyone was trying to listen I suppose. "Why don't we all go somewhere private so other people don't hear?" The three doctors led us to an empty hallway. Dr. Bart turned back to us, "I've never seen anything like it." I heard a grunt somewhere behind me, Iggy. Dr. Bart noticed that, "I don't mean the wings, well I mean I've never seen the wings before, but it's the healing process that is astounding." He started to half-smiled. He was starting to sound like a white coat. He continued, "What we didn't get is why are the bones and tendons and ligaments healing already when the gunshot wound isn't. And the wound doesn't seem extremely recent."

"Correct." I'm only giving one word answer to this guy.

"Hmmm…" he just nodded. I noticed how the other two doctors hadn't said anything, hmmm, ok. "Well that seems to not be the only strange thing then." I froze, _oh my gosh, what else can go wrong?_ [I hate how whenever someone asks that and then something else goes wrong. Ha stupid irony.] Iggy spoke first.

"What do you mean by that?" his voice seemed a little shaken, like he was afraid of their answer.

Dr. Bart just looked at all of us for a moment. Then he answered, "Well we examined the wound and found a silver substance deep in it- not yet dry. I wanted to examine what it is, but I wanted your permission first." We all nodded for permission. "Ok well do you know Jeb Batchelder?"

* * *

**Well I made this chapter as long as I could without making it completely retarded. Tell me if you like it or whatever. Tell me if you hate if you want, it won't hurt my feelings, I have my sock to comfort me:) Reviews! Don't forget!**


	7. Sleep Deprived or High?

**Hi Guys!! I'm so sorry for not updating but you would not believe how busy I've been doing two sports at a time- which I'm still doing- but I am going to find time to update this story for you guys :). I'm going to make this as long as I can to kind of make up from not updating in such a long time. So we left off with Max in the hospital after breaking down and the doctor wanting to examine her with the flock's permission, and asking them if they knew who ****Batchelder****was. I'm excited guys haha.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Maximum Ride books (the original), but I did buy them at the store :). What I do own is a soccer ball! Such a priceless thing!**

**Recap: **Dr. Bart just looked at all of us for a moment. Then he answered, "Well we examined the wound and found a silver substance deep in it- not yet dry. I wanted to examine what it is, but I wanted your permission first." We all nodded for permission. "Ok well do you know Jeb Batchelder?"

* * *

**Fang's POV**

It took me a moment to comprehend what he had just said. But after I did, I didn't know what to do. I was torn with telling him yes and anything else that could help, but then I don't know this guy and I don't exactly trust Jeb either, not after all the stuff he did to Max. after pondering for a few moment I decided that Max's health was more important than anything right now.

"Yes. I know Jeb Batchelder. Actually me and the flock know him better than most people." I was surprised at how much I said to Dr. Bart all at once. But what was done, was done.

He nodded. "Ok good because I have asked his help in figuring out what is wrong with Max." even though I hate Jeb- almost with a passion- he's probably the only one who can really help Max. I sighed giving in, "Ok, do what you need to Doc, just save Max, that's all that matters right now." I turned to look at the rest of the flock and I could tell that they completely agreed.

Then I turned to Doc and he was looking at us one by one before he answered, "Great, we will do the best we can!"

* * *

"I'm hungry." I'm sure you can guess who that was.

"I know Nudge, we'll get you something to eat in a bit- again." It's been six hours since we last talked to Dr. Bart, it was 4 o'clock in the morning. Everyone had taken a long nap, except for me, but now they were wide awake. A few hours ago Jeb came in, looked at us and we told him which room Max was in, and hurried off. _I hope everything's going ok. I don't know what I would do if we lost Max. _I started to laugh because I knew exactly what was going to happen to me: I would completely break down, be an empty shell, and then when that's done I would go looking for the guy that did this to Max. Heck, I'm going to look for the guy no matter what. _**Don't worry Fang, Max is strong, I believe she be just fine in no time.**_ I turned to see Angel smiling at me. I sadly smiled, _It's never that simple Angel._ Her smile faltered but she picked it up again. I hated doing that to her but we have to be prepared no matter what… no matter what… no matter… I couldn't think all of a sudden, my breathing started getting heavier and my heart was pounding faster than normal. After a moment, all these sudden thoughts were all in my head, my own thoughts, going 1000 mph. _what nothing gets better? You would have to take care of the flock, but how? I'd be torn apart if Max left us. I wouldn't believe it, I wouldn't be able to handle it. We all needed Max, every single one of us, especially me._ I found myself breathing very fast- oh god, I was hyperventilating. I noticed Angel and Iggy looking at me with concern, so I excused myself.

I went to the nearest bathroom and luckily no one else was in there. I went straight to the sink to wash my face. I was instantly relieved, the cold water running down my face was soothing. I looked in the mirror and saw like a thousand bags under my eyes. I knew I really needed sleep but I couldn't force myself to- I wanted to be up in case anything happened. Then I had a sudden thought, _I can't let Max see me like this. I need to be calm and collected just like always, just like every other time._ But then I realized that this isn't like any other time, this was a completely different time, worse than almost anything. Max always got injured but it was never like this, what if…? I stopped myself from thinking any further. I would make myself focus on the positive things and be strong for the rest of the flock. I walked out from the bathroom and ran into Iggy.

"You ok man? I could hear you breathing, like you were hyperventilating, or something." There was concern etched out all over his face. I felt kind of guilty for not being strong or at least hiding my anxiety from everyone. I used to be so good at controlling emotions. "I mean you used to be so good at controlling your emotions, but I can sense you like a book." [**Haha "sense you like a book", get it? Since he can't see he can only…nvm... going back to the story**] Didn't I just think that?! Man, I am losing my edge!

"Uh yeah Iggy I'll be ok, I was just thinking too much about everything, that's all." Meaning i was thinking all about Max. Well I wasn't lying to him and it actually felt good to tell someone, unlike, Max, who keeps everything to herself, and deals with the burden all by herself. I felt myself getting upset and took a deep breath. I looked back at Iggy and he was staring toward me with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Hey, don't get mad Fang, but it sounds like you need to rest for a bit, calm down some of your nerves." I laughed once without humor.

"Yeah I know I should."

"But you're not going to, are you?"

"Nope."

"Haha, well I won't try to make you sleep, for now." Iggy had the biggest grin on his face, and I got the feeling that I should really be scared right now. But I just shrugged it off and started walking towards the rest of the flock with Iggy right beside me.

It was 6 o'clock now and I was officially sleep-deprived. I became silly and grumpy at the same time. If anyone would talk to me, I would just stare at them like I was high or something and with no warning to them, I would just start yelling at them for nothing and anything. After a few minutes I stopped yelling at them and just looked like I was stoned. I definitely can't let Max see me this way.

"Ok Fang, I think you should really go to sleep. You're miserable to look at."

"Oh please Iggy! You can't even see what I look like."

"I don't have to see you to know that you're ugly." He sounded smug. Or was I just imagining things?

"Whatever Iggy, you already know my answer."

"Fine, but what about when Max wakes up and you're still all high and crap?" I paused for a moment then answered.

"Don't you worry, cause she won't even know that I haven't gotten any sleep, worrying over her like crazy." Iggy raised his eyebrows, while Gazzy looked confused, and Angel and Nudge were smiling/giggling.

"Wanna bet?" Angel had the most devilish smile on her face.

"Oh you better not Angel, because if you do, you won't be seeing Total anytime soon." Angel went straight from smiling to being scared.

"Fine then, I won't"

"But I will." I turned to see Iggy smiling at me just like he did a few hours ago.

"You wouldn't." Unfortunately, I was too sleepy to even think about threatening to tell Max about all his little explosions and the things he had planned, so I had no leverage to make him not tell Max.

"Haha I will and you know it." Even though I was sleepy, I could tell he was for real. I just glared at him, and without looking I grabbed one of the pillows around me and laid on it.

"Heh, stupid Iggy and the rest of the flock, threatening me to sleep, when I don't even want to. Idiots…" I started mumbling about how unfair they were and before I knew it, I was knocked out.

* * *

"Fang wake up. Fang come on, wake up." I could hear someone calling my name but I didn't want to leave from my peaceful dream of just me and Max walking together in a peaceful garden. That's weird, I know, but it was soothing to me. "Fang get up! Max wants to see you! She's up, you know." At the mention of Max, I jumped up immediately and saw Nudge smiling at me. "I knew you'd get up quickly if I mentioned her name." I immediately felt depressed; Max wasn't up yet? I glared at Nudge. She noticed my glare and laughed nervously, "don't worry I wasn't lying to you, Max is awake, come on, she was moved to a new room." I was instantly walking beside Nudge and I could feel my heart beating fast, in the good way. "Well here we are. Your princess awaits." Nudge laughed and I tried to glare at her, but I was too happy about seeing Max. I walked in slowly and saw my beloved Max, smiling hugely at me!

* * *

**Awww how cute! Ok I know tht was kind of a crazy chapter but I felt it was needed to have some humor in there so yeah… well I'm back guys, so reviews would be loved. I'll try and update like twice a week but no guarantees. It nice to be back :)))) DON'T FORGET REVIEWS AND COMMENTS PLEASE!**


	8. Worry, Happiness, and Pure Love

**Chapter 7… Max is in hospital..yadi yada.. read it!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride but I do own lots and lots of movies!!  


* * *

**

**Max's POV**

_Where am I? What's going on?_ I felt so groggy and my eyelids were so heavy that I couldn't open them. It was hard to think. _**Max, you're in the hospital. Remember what happened…remember what happened before you ended up here.**_ _Voice- is that you? How about a little bit of help on remembering._ All of a sudden, thoughts of what happened started flooding in my head. Flying…talking to Fang…hearing and feeling a tear on my side where I got shot…falling towards the ground…seeing the flock racing after me…DARKNESS everywhere. _Hmmm, so I pretty much blacked out and the flock took me to the hospital?_ I spent the next few minutes listening to the Voice about everything that happened since I blacked out. Then I had a sudden thought: _what about the flock? How are they now-now? How is Fang?_ It must have been hard for Fang to be in charge since I wasn't there. Well I'm back now! _**Wake up and see for yourself.**_

There was a sudden pop and my eyes slowly opened. I looked around and I noticed I was in an extremely big room…hmmm this could be interesting. Well now that I was fully awake, I needed to see the flock. _Angel? Angel, can you hear me? I'm awake if you haven't noticed._ I waited several seconds and then Angel replied, "_MAX!!!!!!! OMG you're awake!!! I'll get the flock to come and see you!!!!"_

_Ugh, can you keep it down Angel; I'm kinda getting a headache?_

_Oh yeah Max, sorry._ Then the door busted open and everyone except Fang came in. "Max, how are you!?!" All five of them asked that question at the same time. I just smiled at them for a while.

"I'm doing ok I guess, sore here and there, but I'm not complaining that much. Um, where's Fang at?" for like 30 seconds all I got were giggles and smirks.

Iggy walked forward and spoke, "uh he's sleeping and let's just say he really needed it." I stared at Iggy, confused.

"Why? Did he not sleep and started to act all weird and stuff? Haha." I was completely kidding, but by the looks on their faces after I said that, I seemed to be not that far from the mark. "He really didn't get any sleep did he? Because he was too worried about me, huh…?" they all nodded. For a second, I was flattered that he would care so much, even if he were my boyfriend. But then I instantly felt guilty that he deprived himself of sleep because he was worrying too much about me. I still wasn't completely used to it. I wanted to see him. I guessed Nudge saw the change in my expression.

"I'll go get him if you want."

"Oh don't Nudge, let him sleep, apparently he needs it, right?"

"Yeah, but when he awakes up he's going to be mad that we didn't wake him up sooner because you were awake. And then he'd be mad at you and then us but mostly us, because he loves you and can't stay mad at you for long, and would be completely mad at us, which would be scary, but not as scary as when your mad and-"

"Ok, ok, Nudge, you can go and get him." I didn't have the patience for Nudge right now and I'd rather her wake up Fang than listen to her for another bazillion hours right now.

She smiled, "Ok. Be right back." I tried to make it look like I was annoyed, but, secretly, I was thrilled to see Fang. I spent the next minute explaining to the rest of the Flock that I was ok, when I heard multiple footsteps. The door opened and I heard Nudge talking. "Well here we are. Your princess awaits." She laughed and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. The moment Fang walked through the door, I was smiley hugely and I couldn't take my eyes off him.

He smiled back and I noticed that he was practically glowing when he stared at me. I could feel the heat rushing toward my cheeks, and smiled timidly. "Hi."… "Hi." _Hmmm, I guess one syllable words are good enough for us right now. Gosh I'm turning into Fang._ That thought made me blush harder, which in turn, made Angel giggled. I turned to glare at her and she immediately stopped. "[Cough, Cough] well let's give these love birds some time alone. Go on guys, move it, out the room." Iggy started ushering the little kids out the room and turned to wink at me. I was grateful to Iggy laughed. He got the message, smiled, looked to where Fang was, smiled again, and walked out the room. And it was just me and Fang all alone. I decided to start the conversation.

"I heard that you didn't sleep-deprived." I couldn't help but laugh at that. Fang glared at particularly nothing and mumbled something too low for me to hear. Then he answered back.

"Yeah well I wanted to be awake if anything new happened…" he paused, hesitant to continue. "You had me very worried. I was hard to even think about sleeping, knowing what condition you were in." Guilt flooded back.

"I'm sorry." I didn't want to dwell on guilt so I changed the subject, "I overheard during surgery, yeah weird I know, that Jeb helped out somehow. Did he really?" I wasn't that hard to believe but I just wanted to be sure. Fang's face became a little dark before he replied.

"Yes, he did. There was some mysterious silver liquid substance where you were shot. We're still waiting on what he heard."

I hesitated before I answered. "I find myself trusting him, not completely, but enough to accept him being in my life now. What do you think?"

"…I think…that we should start trusting him more, but still keep our guard up just in case." I nodded, completely agreeing. Fang looked at me and then started to smile, "enough about Jeb and all that stuff, let's start talking about something else." I smiled ready for a change in conversation.

"Ok, how about you tell me what you did while you were sleep-deprived?" he immediately starting frowning.

"I'd rather not." For some reason that made me laugh. He frowned harder and that brought a new round of fresh laughter. I was laughing so much that I was crying and coughing at the same. Fang looked worried and tried to calm me down. It took almost 2 minutes to do so. Fang sighed, "What am I going to do with you?"

I chuckled, "accept me for who I am or get out." Fang gave me a look that said, _what else can I do?_ That made me smile. "Well what do you want to do that won't make me have to get out bed?" He thought for a moment then smiley brilliantly, which made my heart jump.

"How about we just chill and watch TV till the Flock decides to come in?" I could tell that's not all he wanted to do.

"K, whatever." I scooted over to make room for him and laid down on the bed, or sat upright actually. He turned to look at me and I could see all the emotions in his eyes: _worry, happiness, and pure love._ Without thinking I leaned in and pecked him on the lips. He looked surprised at first, but then completely pleased. This time he leaned in and it was no peck on the lips.

* * *

**That's so sweet. I wish I had a boyfriend like that, but I'm too busy for one haha. Reviews!**


End file.
